


In His Footsteps

by Ref3rence



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Pre-Shippuden, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ref3rence/pseuds/Ref3rence
Summary: Team Seven will be Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and... Hinata?This is being written to fix the fact that Naruto/Hinata and Sasuke/Sakura aren't fleshed out more because they don't interact more than once every other story arc. I also wanted to give the Byakugan a bit more development instead of having it jump straight from base to Tenseigan, but that'll be way later.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. The Third Member

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 is pretty much beat-for-beat episode 3 and 4 of the original anime, but there are some major changes that will be brought up later, so feel free to skim if you want to cut straight to the meat of the new content.

For his first day as a ninja, Naruto was having a pretty rough time. Between being punched who knows how many times, being pricked in the butt by that Iruka-sensei wannabe, and even kissing that pretty-boy Sasuke, he was sure this would be the second worst day of his life, second only to every other day in his life. He lived with this kind of abuse on the daily, and today he became a real shinobi. All that was left was to be assigned to a team.

“Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki” Iruka spoke aloud to the crowd.

“Hey, that’s me” Naruto thought to himself.

“Sasuke Uchiha” he continued. A handful of shinobi began whispering to one another.

“Not that jerk.”

“and Hinata Hyuuga.” There was a crash in the back of the classroom as a white-eyed girl fell to the floor. Everyone in the room jumped at the sound. After a few seconds, some of the other kids in the around the impact gave a thumbs up as she sheepishly worked her way back into her seat.

The day wasn’t going all too great for Sasuke, either. A Hyuuga could definitely help sharpen his skills until _that day_ , but why did he have to be teamed up with that runt who couldn’t even perform a clone jutsu? He didn’t dwell on it too much as he returned home. He walked down the same abandoned path he always did, passing the few newly owned buildings encroaching on _his_ district. It had only been four years, and they were already forgetting the tragedy that befell him. Entering the same house he had always lived in, he ran his fingers across the bloodstains that had long faded in the entryway before returning to his room. It was around this time of day he would usually get back from the academy and eat, maybe even do some training, but today was different. Staring at the ceiling, he thought to himself. He was finally a ninja. Not a real one, and Itachi was half his age when he did it anyway. Without warning, Sasuke threw one of the many kunai he kept on him into the windowsill to his left.

“I know you’re there.”

A girl with pink hair and shocked green eyes crept up from being the wall. Sasuke recognized her as one of the nobodies from the academy, one of the horde vying for his attention.

“Leave, now.” His black eyes seemed to burn holes through her body.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke, it’s just that you looked so lonely walking home that I thought I would just-”

“I said leave” he shouted, raising his voice for the first time Sakura had ever heard. His arms shook with how tightly his fists were clenched. “If you stay, I can’t promise what I’ll do.”

With that, Sakura felt an immense rush of fear, yet another first for her, before taking the kunai embedded in front of her and running.

The day couldn’t have been going better for Hinata. Passing out in class wasn’t the way the dignified princess of the Hyuuga clan should act, but she couldn’t care less. She was finally on a team with Naruto! It was almost the only thing she could think about; the missions they’d take, the conversations they’d share.

“I win this time, Hinata,” a pleased Hanabi declared as she feigned closing off her sister’s tenketsu, “you’ve lost a lot today, are you sure you went to the right academy?”

“S-sorry Hanabi, I just have a lot on my mind. I’m going to go eat some food” Hinata replied.

“Ooh! I’m hungry too, could you make me some” the younger replied, to which Hinata simply sighed confoundedly.

Before anybody was prepared, it was the next day.

“C’mon! It’s the first day, and the teacher is already late” Naruto whined, looking up and down the halls. There was an awkward silence before Hinata responded.

“M-maybe he just needed t-to help someone cross the street.”

“Awww, but I’m ready to roll! I mean, all the other teams have already met their new teachers, so what gives?”

“Sit down” Sasuke glared, being sure to punctuate the start of each word with emphasis.

“Aw yeah, mister fancy pants? What’re you gonna do about it, huh?” Naruto left the door and hiked his foot next to Sasuke’s resting elbows.

“N-Naruto” Hinata whispered.

“What does a runt like you expect to be able to do to me.”

“You think your so special, huh? Your grades won’t mean jack when I beat you.”

“Both of you, calm down” a new voice commanded. “If you’re going to act like that to your own teammates, well… how do I put this…, training you would be completely pointless.” Everybody’s hearts sank. The mysterious jōnin waved his hand, “come on, we’re not having class in this stuffy old place.”

The wind howled on the rooftop of the school building.

“All right, why don’t you guys introduce yourselves one at a time.”

Hinata gasped as if she had seen a wild dog.

Sasuke huffed haughtily.

“C’mon man, what are we even supposed to say?”

“Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that.”  
“I dunno, why don’t you go first so we know how it’s supposed to work.”

“Me? I’m Kakashi Hatake. Things I like or hate? I don’t really feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies.” The rest of Team Seven groaned. “Now how about you, on the right?”

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at Ichiraku, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to become the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody important!”

“Alright, next?”  
“I-um-actually Hatake-sensei-”

“Please, call me Kakashi.”  
“Oh, sorry Kakashi-sensei. I was wondering if-f I could maybe go… last?”

“Yeah, that sounds fine. You?”  
“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don’t particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I’m going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone” Sasuke lurked. There was a pregnant silence.

“Alright, let’s uh… why don’t you go?”  
“I’m Hinat-ta Hyuuga. I like, um,” there was a long pause before her face reddened, only to be covered with her hands shortly after, “I like zen-ze… zenzai, and I dislike seafood. My hobby is p-pressing f-flowers. My dream is” there was a long pause. After a few seconds, Kakashi nodded expectantly. “My dream is to be respect-ted by my clan.”  
“Thank you, Hinata. You’re each unique and have your own ideas. We’ll have our first mission tomorrow.”

“Huh? What kinda mission will it be?”

“It’s a task that the four of us will do together.”  
“What, what, what, what?”  
“A survival exercise.”  
“Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to do something we didn’t already do at the academy” Sasuke jeered.

“This won’t be like any training you’ve already had” Kakashi responded, beginning to chuckle. “I know I don’t have to say this to Sasuke, but you two? Of the twenty-seven graduates in your class, only nine will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass/fail test, and the chance that you’ll fail is at least sixty-six percent.”

Hinata grasped at her throat to quell a gasp, and Naruto nearly fell over.

“C’mon man, we worked hard to get here. Why’d we even take that graduation test.”  
“That was just to narrow down the number of candidates.”  
“What?!”  
“Like it or not, Naruto, that’s how it is. I decide if you pass or fail. Meet at the designated training spot at 5:00 AM, and bring your ninja tools.”

Naruto sat there shaking in both anticipation and fear as Kakashi got up and strolled his way to the stairs. Looking over, Hinata placed her hand on his.

“It’ll be okay, Naruto. I’m sure if anyb-body in our group fails, it will be me.”  
Naruto looked up to her and smiled, his bright blue eyes feeling like they were piercing her soul.

“No way, Hinata. If we’re gonna achieve our dreams, we all gotta pass. I mean what I said, and I never go back on my word, believe it!”

Hinata could only sit there, slack-jawed in awe, before nodding confidently.

“Then I’ll pass too, Naruto!”

“One more thing,” Kakashi started, turning around waving his fingers, “you might want to skip breakfast tomorrow, or else you’ll puke.”


	2. The Bell Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot more major alterations to the original series of events. Team Seven takes the bell test, but the lack of moderation leads to a much more level headed Naruto, and a much more aggressive Sasuke.

As Naruto made it to the dimly lit clearing. As far as his bleary eyes could tell, Sasuke and Hinata had been waiting there for a while.

“Well you two seem to be doing alright.”  


Sasuke huffed haughtily, as usual.

“Act-tually Naruto, I’m used to waking up early” Hinata responded. Naruto scratched his gut and yawned.

“That’s neat. Do we have any idea whe-.” Trailing off, Naruto’s eyes shut as he began to plummet toward the ground. Before he caught an open mouthful of grass, Hinata caught him by the shoulders, slowly lowering him and resting his back on the side of her lifted knees as she sat down.

“You should have just let him fall. Maybe then he’d learn something.”  
“I, um, he’s our teammate. We sh-should help him get strong, just l-like us.”

Sasuke scoffed.

As the sun rose high above the forested hills of the Land of Fire, Kakashi emerged from the trees.

“Good morning, everyone. Are you ready for your first day?”  
“C’mon, man, you’re late again?”

“Please, it’s Kakashi. A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way.” Naruto growled like an upset toddler. Kakashi decided to let it simmer out before placing a clock on a nearby stump. “Well, let’s get started. This clock is set for noon.” He produced a pair of bells from his palm. “The test is simple; all you have to do is take these bells from me. That’s all there is to it. If you can’t do it, you’ll be tied to those posts and you’ll watch as I eat my lunch in front of you.”

“C’mon, man, lunch is the fourth most important meal of the day, and I already skipped my breakfast and brunch ramen cups!”

“Um, Ka-Kakashi-sensei? There’s only t-two bells. Does that mean…”  
“That’s right Hinata, only two off you can pass this test. The one who fails will flunk out and go back to the academy. Then again, all three of you could flunk out, too. Feel free to use any ninja tools, including shuriken. If you’re not ready to kill me, you will never get these bells. You’re free to begin in three… two… one…… begin.”

The three younger ninjas dashed into the thicket around them.

“You know Naruto, stealth is an important skill for a ninja to master. Your other teammates seam to be doing a great job, but you’re just kind of, well, weird.”

“Like I’m going to wait for you to do something stupid. I’m gonna get that bell faster than anybody you’ve ever taught!”

As Naruto rushed headlong toward the jōnin, Kakashi reached into his pocket, producing a book.

“Hah, this idiot. He thinks he can beat me without even looking” Naruto though to himself. Lowering his fist, he extended his foot toward Kakashi’s shin. Right before impact, the teacher simply raised his knee. Turning the kick into a sweep, Kakashi pressed his thumb harder into the book’s crease as he switched to walking on one hand a few feet away from Naruto, dancing on his fingers to dodge a few strikes before springing his arm to flip over the student. Spinning around to punch him in the gut and take at least one bell, his fist collided with thing air.

“You know, you’ve got some promise, but you really shouldn’t be turning your back on your opponent so often” a familiar patronizing voice spoke behind him. A voice the nearby foliage shouted out to Naruto before being silenced by a crash, shortening his shock by just enough to spin around and attempt to hit his teacher square in the forehead protector.

“One Thousand Years of, huh” Kakashi petered out as his extended his fingers into Naruto’s abdomen. In a puff of smoke, Kakashi’s fingers were left dangling in the air. “A shadow clone, huh? I heard something about that” he continued, recomposing himself and blocking a potential kick to the head with a weird one. But now that you’ve exposed your hand,” he continued, tightening his grip around his assailant’s ankle, “I can tell that this is the real one.” Drawing him in, Kakashi closed his book, slapping Naruto in the side of the head with it, knocking him out instantly. A handful of remaining clones popped above Kakashi as he reopened his book, waltzing into the forest. “A few more seconds, and I might’ve been in trouble. You really are something, Naruto Uzumaki.”

A few minutes later, Kakashi had continued deep into the thicket.

“This is as good a place as any. Why don’t you come out, Sasuke.” The leaves above exploded into rustles, then another burst, and another. Amidst the fourth round, Sasuke dashed from behind a tree on the ground level, slashing at his left hip with a kodachi. “A blade, huh? Even for a ninja, I’m surprised a kid like you could own something like that” Kakashi mocked as he jumped up to dodge the attack.

“When you inherit an entire clan’s assets, you find a few things you shouldn’t” Sasuke replied as Kakashi’s foot hit a tripwire and paper bomb blasted him higher into the foliage.

“If money is all you have, then I have nothing to worry about,” Kakashi replied, using his free hand to throw a couple shuriken to detonate the remaining tags before he could enter their blast radius.

“As if. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” A gout of fire blazed toward the jōnin, igniting the leaves around him. “You’ve got nowhere else to run!”

“Water Style: Water Wall” Kakashi lazily replied, lowering his mask and showering the blaze with a torrent. When the blaze subsided, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

“Now you’re mine” a descending Sasuke shouted, using his sword to strike at Kakashi’s hip. Gripping the child’s wrists, Kakashi forced him to drop the blade and drove him headfirst into the ground.

“You’ll wake up sooner or later, might as well take you to the posts now.”

Kakashi dropped the Uchiha by one of the posts, dragging Naruto alongside him to tie him up on the center post. On the other side of the clearing, a bush shook.

“Naruto and Sasuke are both…,” Hinata thought to herself, not even wanting to finish the thought in her introspection, “but if they can’t, then how could I ever-.” She was cut off by a grumble across from her as Naruto shifted in the untied ropes being wrapped around him. “No. Even if I don’t pass, if I can distract him long enough, for Naruto to wake up and attack Kakashi-sensei from behind.” Attempting to focus her breathing with a deep breath, she emerged from the thicket.

“Now let’s see, was it right over left, or… wait” Kakashi untied the knot and attempted to retie it. It wasn’t until Hinata was a body’s length from the pillars that Kakashi bothered acknowledging her, not bothering to look up from the rope. “Hey, Hinata. Do you think you could help me tie this knot on Naruto, or…?” Hinata raised her palms to Kakashi and widened her stance, which only elicited a sigh.

“I already had a taijutsu spar, I’d really rather not.”

Dozens of mirrors dropped around Hinata, digging into the dirt. Some held her own reflection, while others were her sister’s, her father’s, even the caretaker Natsu’s. Her entire body shook with fear. The moment a mirror left her sight, another person would occupy its surface. Her lungs burned like she was breathing Sasuke’s jutsu, her heart was pounding harder than one-hundred shadow clones punching her chest all at once. Suddenly the world around her stopped.

“Wha- is that… Hinata?”

Focusing her entire self, she mustered her strength, opening the chakra points that only her clan had. The scenery faded to inverted black and white. None of the mirrors had any chakra flow, in fact it was almost like they didn’t have any physical presence whatsoever. The only thing she cared about was Kakashi. There was a strange chakra flow going to his left eye, but she didn’t have time to focus on that. She struck for the tenketsu in his legs. Kakashi blocked the strikes with his hands, inadvertently numbing a couple fingers. The assault continued at a breakneck pace; strike, strike, numb fingers, palms, wrists. Coming to his senses, Sasuke made a mad dash to the bell on Kakashi’s waist. At the same time, Naruto constricted his shoulders with a wince, just barely weaving his hands together to make a shadow clone to follow in kind. Just as the two were about to reach it; before any time seamed to pass, an alarm bell rang. Sasuke and the clone dropped to the ground, the latter disappearing. Hinata’s vague pupil faded back into her iris as she and Kakashi dropped her hands.

“Looks like none of you could get the bells.” Sasuke somersaulted backward until his back was to his pillar before resting his elbow on his knee angstily. Hinata, letting her arms fall limp in front of her, walked over and followed in kind. The three students groaned in time with their stomachs. Kakashi continued. “Uh oh, stomach’s growling, huh? That’s too bad. Oh, by the way, about this exercise? Well, I’ve decided I won’t send any of you back to the academy.” Naruto’s face lit up, Sasuke turned his chin upward and blew a stream of air between his lips, and Hinata gripped at the front of her hoodie.

“But then Kakashi-sensei, that means…”

“Yes. All three of you are being dropped from the program… permanently.”

The three students’ eyes widened in fear.

“Dropped from the program? But then we’ll never become ninja! You said if we couldn’t take the bells, we’d be sent back to the academy! You can’t just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?”

“Because you don’t think like ninja, you think like little kids; like brats.”

Sasuke gripped the blade of his shortsword and rushed the jōnin before being pinned to the ground with a boot against his head.

“You think it’s all about you.”

“Hah, serves you right, you idiot” Naruto poked.

“You don’t know what it means to be a ninja. You think it’s a game, huh? I’ll admit, towards the end you started to grasp at the basic concept of teamwork, but you reached for your own bells rather than helping your partners achieve their mission. That is what determines whether you pass or fail. If all three of you at least attempted to come at me, you might have been able to take them. It’s over anyway.”

“But you said that only two people could pass! Of course we’d want to take the bells.”

“That’s the point. I pitted you against each other to see if you could put your squad ahead of your teammates. A genin should naturally prefer teamwork, but it seams Hinata was the only one to have it even cross her mind. Even then, she needed to see the two of you out of action before acting at all. Naruto, you do everything on your own. Everything. And you, Sasuke,” Kakashi continued, applying pressure to the back of Sasuke’s head, thought the others were so far beneath you, they were worthless. Arrogance. Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, this can lead to failure and death. For instance,” Kakashi put Sasuke’s blade to his throat, “Hinata, kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies.”

Hinata’s hands reached for her shoulders as she began to shake violently.

“That’s what happens on a mission.” He removed the kunai. Naruto sighed, but Hinata continued shivering. “The enemy takes a hostage, and you’ve got an impossible choice, and someone ends up dead. On every mission, your life is on the line.” Getting up from his seat, Sasuke gave a grumble. Approaching the large stone monument, he continued his monologue. “Did you look at this stone, the names engraved on it? They are all ninja who are honored as heroes in are village.”

“I’ve got it! I’m going to have my name written on that stone! I’m not going to live and die for nothing like a dog, I’m going to be a hero” Naruto boasted.

“They’re a special kind of hero. They all died on the battlefield. This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved here.” He let the air clear for a long while. “I’ll give you one last chance, but it’ll be a lot harder for you. You’ll have three hours to get a bell, eat lunch now to build strength, but Naruto doesn’t get any.”  
“Hey, c’mon man, was it something I said?”  
“I told you, it’s Kakashi, so in a way, yes, but you were also the first one to fail, and you easily did the worst. I also only brought two lunches, and I don’t exactly feel like untying you right now.”  
“Oh, come on m- Kakashi-sensei.”  
“And nobody can share food with him, either. If you do, I will fail you immediately. I make the rules, and you follow them.”

Sasuke picked at his rice, hungrily, but not aggressively, eating his share. Hinata could only stare at the lid as Naruto’s stomach growled. Closing her eyes, she extended the closed box with both hands.

“Huh?”  
“Please, Naruto. I attacked Kakashi-sensei head on so that you could get a bell. You deserve to have this more than I do.”

“Hey, c’mon Hinata. You heard him, if you let me eat, you’ll get disqualified.”

“If you don’t eat, you won’t pass the next round. I shouldn’t have passed this round to begin with.”  
“Kakashi’s gone,” Sasuke piped up, “if we’re going to succeed as a team, we all need our strength.”

“Um, I can’t exactly eat like this, though.”

“I’ll untie him, Kakashi didn’t say anything about that. Hinata, you pour what’s left of my food into your container, it’d make more sense for yours to have more in it.”

“O-okay.”

Once he was untied, Naruto began to scarf down his portion of the lunch box. As he started to work at his teammates’ portion, Sasuke lightly punched him in his forehead protector.

“We need strength too.”

All of a sudden, a massive pillar of smoke erupted in the middle of the clearing.

“You broke the rules, I hope you’re ready for the punishment” Kakashi stated, lightning sparking around his body.

Naruto weaved his fingers together in the shape of a plus, focusing his chakra. Taking note of this, Sasuke gripped his sword in one hand and a handful of shuriken in the other, and Hinata took her stance, Byakugan activated.

“If you’re gonna disqualify any of us, you’re gonna have to get through all of us, believe it” Naruto declared.

“We’re all in a squad, and we’re all in it together” Sasuke continued.

“Th-that’s right” Hinata meekly added.

“So you’re a team? That’s all you’ve got to say” Kakashi shouted, approaching intimidatingly. There was a pause as he looked at each ninja individually.

“You pass.”

Sasuke crossed his arms and snickered. Tears began to well in Hinata’s eyes as she pumped her fist and grabbed Naruto’s hand.

“Wait a minute, I don’t get it” Naruto whined, not even realizing the contact.

“You succeed, you win, you get an optimal grade” Kakashi responded matter-of-factly.

“But we broke the rules.”

“You followed the rules exactly how I wanted you to. Every other team fell into every single trap I threw at them because they couldn’t think for themselves. You and the others did exactly what I wanted you to. It is important for a ninja to see through deception both in combat, and in what assumptions are being made. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those that abandon their friends are worse than scum.”

“So, I’m a genin now?”

“I thought we already got passed that.”

“You know, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto began, inadvertently whipping away the tears in his eyes with Hinata’s hand, “I hope that when I become Hokage, I can be as cool of a guy as you.”

“This exercise is officially over. Team Seven starts its first mission tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never liked how the fact that Sasuke's inheritance of the entire Uchiha clan's possessions was never explored, so there you go. Additionally, based on everything he's seen and heard up to this point up until the end, Kakashi doesn't know Hinata has the hots for Naruto. Sorry if Hinata's stuttering is annoying, but that going away is going to be a plot point just like it was in classic Naruto. There will be some Sakura moments throughout the rest of this fic, but expect most of the Sasuke/Sakura moments to be in Shippuden.


	3. Zabuza Momochi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Seven embarks on their first day of missions; the Land of Waves arc begins.

“I mean, it could have been any of us, but no. Instead, it’s ‘misses Naruto’ Hinata that gets teamed up with Sasuke. What a waste” Ino sighed on her way to her team’s meeting place.

“Easy for you to say, at least you have Shikamaru on your team. I have to work with dog breath and bug brain” Sakura replied, equally exhausted.

“You think Shikamaru is attractive? I mean, if you’re into necrophilia, maybe, but no way sister.”

“He’s no Sasuke, but at least he has a little bit of that mystery, you know Ino? Plus, you know he’s got stacks, you’d at least be able to date him for the presents.”

“No way, it’s Sasuke or nothing! I date for love, not money. Plus, that’s if you can catch him for the two hours he’s awake.” Both girls sighed.

“I wonder what awesome stuff Sasuke’s up to” Sakura pondered.

“Alright great, we’ve wrangled the cat, what next” Sasuke questioned.

“C’mon, man, can’t we get a real mission, Kakashi-sensei” Naruto complained.

“You’re just a lowly genin with no real-world experience Naruto. You’ll get more dangerous missions later. D-rank missions are an important part of the economy” Iruka reminded the child.

“Yeah, whatever. Economy my butt. I’m not just some kid anymore, I’m a real ninja” he boasted. Kakashi bashed Naruto in the head just hard enough to get his attention as he, Iruka, and the third Hokage chuckled a little.

“Naruto wants to prove that he’s not just some brat, but that he’s a former brat, is that it” the elderly Hokage behind the counter questioned. “Since you’re so determined, I’m going to give you a C-rank mission. You’ll be a bodyguard safeguarding someone along a journey.” Tapping his table, he called to an attendant in another room. “Can we bring in our visitor?”

A weighty, actively drinking, older man slid the door open.

“A bunch of little brats? You, dumbass, you really think you’re fooling anyone with this ninja schtick?”

“I’m a real ninja, and I’m not dumb” Naruto fired back.

“Oh yeah? How’d you know who I was talking to, big guy” he drunkenly snickered, to which Naruto grumbled to himself. “I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I am building a bridge there that will change the world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving your life.”

After traveling for a few hours Hinata tugged on the wrist of Kakashi’s sleeve, who’s owner looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Ka-Kakashi-sensei they, um-” her eyes flitted down toward a puddle in their path before pointing at her left eye. Kakashi nodded. When she reached towards Sasuke’s satchel, he grabbed her wrist. “Puddle, ch-chakra, counter.” With a mutual nod, she took something from the bag and dropped it behind her leg as they passed.

Two shinobi rose ominously from the water only to be blasted by an explosive tag disguised as a perfectly normal discarded food wrapping.

“Why you” one of the cloaked assailants roared, launching a long chain from their connected bladed gauntlets as they collapsed. Screeching past the ninja, it laced itself around Tazuna. Catching the loop of the chain with a kunai, Sasuke redirected it into the woods. Naruto and the bridge builder whipped around, eyes wide and mouths agape.

“What just happened” the two said almost simultaneously.

“Ninja. Looks like they’re from the Hidden Mist Village. Naruto, Sasuke, take their weapons, tie them up, and see if you can’t staunch the bleeding. If anything happens, or if you complete it before we’re back, give us a shout and we’ll return. Hinata, Tazuna, come with me; we need to chat.

Making their way into the brush just out of earshot, Kakashi turned a knife on the drunk.

“Those were chūnin from a hidden village that specializes in relentless attacks. With their dying breaths, they went after you. Not the high-ranking ninja, not even the easy prey genin. This wasn’t typical shinobi warfare; this was an assassination mission. You put the lives of my students at risk and lied to some of the highest-ranking shinobi in the Hidden Leaf. If you wanted protection against shinobi, you’d’ve requested a B-rank mission.”

“Woah, woah, let’s not get hasty” the terrified builder slurred.

“How do I know you’re not a Hidden Mist spy trying to lead vulnerable genin into an ambush, and that your buddies back there weren’t just lashing out at you to silence loose ends? I hear that’s commonplace among their ranks, what about you?”

“Look, I’m just a bridge builder from just about the ass crack of the ocean, alright? You think I can afford a B-rank mission? Look, this is all I’ve got; all my entire town’s got.”

“Well ’all you’ve got’ doesn’t cut it. We can work things out later back at the village. As for you Hinata.”

“Y-yes” she piped up questioningly, not taking her eyes off Tazuna.  
“How did you know about my eye?”

“Well, w-when I was fighting you yesterday Ka-Kakashi, I noticed a lot of chakra flow to it. I didn’t think about it at the time, b-but it kept me awake at-t night, so I decided-d you must have some sort of d-dojutsu.”  
“That’s very deductive of you, Hinata. The truth is-” A childish scream scattered the birds from their roosts. “Come on, it sounds like something happened!”

Rounding the last few trees, Kakashi took in the entire situation. The shinobi Sasuke was supposed to be caring for had been disarmed and tied up, but his head and shoulders slumped toward his back and there was nothing behind his eyes. On Naruto’s end, the bleeding in the assassin’s stumps had mostly subsided, but his hand was dripping blood and the assailant, though still immobilized, swung wildly around him, jerking his limp comrade’s body around like a rag doll by his chain.

“Tazuna, stay by that tree. I’ll handle this.” Disappearing in a blur of cloth, Kakashi’s hand suddenly appeared underneath the chūnin as he dragged him beneath the ground before reappearing in front of his head. “Good job stopping the bleeding, Naruto.” Crouching down, Sasuke inspected the already acquired weapon.

“Kakashi, these edges are poisoned.”

“You’re right. This kind of poison could kill a man pretty quickly. Don’t move around too much, Naruto, you’re going to need all the time we can get. We’re heading back to the village; this mission is over.”

As Kakashi chewed Tazuna out and elaborated on the finality of the mission, the world seemed to collapse around Naruto, and all the words he could hear were “mission failed”. In one motion, he pulled a kunai from his bag and stabbed it into the center of his hand, piercing all the way through.

“The future Hokage failing his second mission because of a single attack? Hell no!”

“Naruto, that’s really not what’s-”

“I worked too hard to get here. I’ve pushed myself too hard to be told to that I’m too weak.”

“Naruto, that poison can kill in-”

“I won’t back down. I’ll never let myself be saved by anyone. And I’ll never lose to anyone, especially Sasuke. This wound is my contract, I’ll complete this mission no matter what, and after that I’ll become Hokage! Believe it!”

There was a long pause as Kakashi debated following up on his prior statements before deciding on a new one.

“Well, I guess you can’t really argue with that. But you really should cover that wound, you could die from the blood loss.”

“Blood loss, what?!” Naruto began running from side to side, gripping his wound and screaming like a banshee. Suddenly, Hinata gripped his hand and he stopped with a surprised mutter. In the brief interlude, they both began to blush.

“It’s okay Naruto, I brought some ointment just in case somebody got hurt.” She spread the ointment on his hand before turning around to unearth some wrappings for the injury. Glancing over at the hand, Kakashi was amazed by how quickly the wound was closing. He’d seen fast recoveries before, but he’d never witnessed the entire recovery in the span of a few seconds.

“Actually Hinata, it looks like the wound wasn’t very deep. I guess was just overreacting.” Faking a smile, he reflected on his past. “If this is the power of a jinchuriki, then what the hell was the point?”

“Once we get to the coast, we’ll take a small riverboat. It should only take us a few hours to get there” Tazuna declared.

Finally in the Land of Waves, Naruto could barely believe his eyes. It was as if the entire port town was built on the water. Trees sprouted from the depths at bizarre, cascading curves. Its buildings, resting on their platforms, were short and square, fitting together in a loose grid; a far cry from the large, cylindrical structures that dotted the boy’s hometown. The waves beneath him lapped at the boards below him, the spray just missing his sandals.

“That’s as far as I’ll go” the lanky pilot of their shabby vessel grunted as the team disembarked.

“Right,” Tazuna replied, “thank you for taking such a risk.”

“Just be careful.” The boat’s engine roared to life as he sped away as if the builder was cursed.

“Alright, let’s just get home. We’ll figure out how you guys’ll guard my bridge there.”

Reaching the edge of the strange shanty town, they started along a thin path in a swampy forest.

“C’mon, think,” Naruto internally shouted to himself, “all the others already took down two ninja without me even noticing, that’s not what a Hokage does, believe it! If the three of them can take down two, then the one’a me’ll take down one all on my own!”

Jumping to the front of the group, Naruto aggressively scoured the surrounding forest.

“Great, what’s the idiot doing now” Sasuke ragged.

“I found you” Naruto shouted, throwing a shuriken into the woods. Pulling back the brush, Kakashi revealed the attacks target.

“You missed” the leader announced.

“A rabbit” Naruto squawked.

Having heard the weapon imbed itself and only being able to see an obscured, immobile creature, Hinata bent over and began to gag.

“Come on, you can permanently remove two ninja’s ability to walk, but the concept of a dead rabbit does you in” Sasuke leered.

“It’s okay rabbit,” Naruto began, picking the small animal up, “it’ll be okay. See Hinata? The rabbits alright” Naruto sorrowfully stated, setting the white animal down so it could hop back into the foliage. Watching the creature leap away, Hinata came back to her senses.

“Thanks, Naruto.”

“You fucking kids are going to be the death of me” Tazuna concluded.

The air cleared for a long while as each ninja took account of the situation.

“Ka-Kakashi-sensei, I think Naruto cut his hand again.”

“Wha-? But I didn’t-”

“I think you’re right, come here Naruto.” The jōnin casually approached the student, pulling out a roll of cloth before leaning in close as he wrapped his hand. “That rabbit’s coat should have been darker. Act natural; they’re already here.”

Hinata tackled the construction chief as a massive blade flew toward them from the treetops, which elicited yet more profanities as the rest of the team followed suit. Embedding itself in a tree on the other side of the path, the blade’s long handle suddenly bore a pair of grey-sandaled feet, and the man attached to them.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Blood Mist’s very own rogue-nin, Zabuza Momochi” Kakashi challenged, moving between the group and his opponent. As the orange annoyance ran to his side, the jōnin placed his hand firmly on his chest, pushing him behind his body. “You’re in the way. I know you want to prove yourself, but this guy’s in a whole other league. I might have to go all out” he finished, reaching for his slanted forehead protector.

“Sharingan Kakashi, right? It’s too bad, but you’ll have to hand over the old man.”

The stillness of the air clawed at the students like a knife.

“Manji formation. Protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight. I taught you teamwork, time to use it.”

“It’ll be an honor to finally see the fabled Sharingan in action. In the Hidden Mist’s assassination unit, there was a standing kill-on-sight order on you, Copy Ninja Kakashi. But enough talk, I need to exterminate the old man… now!”

As the mist thickened, the children arranged themselves in a triangular cover and Kakashi unveiled his red right eye. Jumping to the water’s surface, the mysterious Zabuza stretched one arm up as the fog began to thicken to a pure gray barrier. Forming a hand seal, a stream of chakra swirled around Kakashi. Sasuke’s stance dropped to a defeated limp as he began to sweat profusely, his eyes and mouth widening in fear before gripping the hilt of his kunai with both hands, turning it toward his abdomen.

“Sasuke, calm down,” his teacher spoke, “I will protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die, trust me.”

Suddenly, Zabuza appeared between the genin and their defendee. “I wouldn’t be too, hugh-” he began before being tapped in the center of the chest by the genin to his right. “The Byakugan? But hac-” he finished as Kakashi ran a kunai through his abdomen. A stream of clear water covered the teacher’s hands as the supposed Zabuza collapsed into a puddle of water

“Behind you, sensei” Naruto shouted, falling to the ground. A cleaver-like blade tore Kakashi in half before he, too, dissipated into water. A kunai drew itself across the assailant’s throat.

“Don’t move,” the leader commanded, suddenly appearing behind his opponent, “it’s over.”

Zabuza began to chuckle. Hinata gasped and reached out to hold Naruto’s hand, who was finally standing again.

“Finished? You really don’t get it, do you. Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation. I’ll never be defeated by a mere copycat ninja like you. You are full of surprises, though. To think the you that made that little speech was already a water clone. Quite a skillful distraction. Too bad,” the assassin continued, his voice suddenly coming from either side of Kakashi as another Zabuza emerged behind him as his prisoner collapsed into yet more water, sword readied to slash both Hinata and his original target in a single slash, “without your sensor-nin, you’re little party’s done for.” Hinata reached for her head in fear. Sasuke, once again cowering, turned a kunai to his chin. Meanwhile, Naruto hooked the circular space at the top of the blade with his elbow.

“Thanks, Hinata, I finally got it.” Opening his eyes, he revealed a set of bright red, slitted eyes. “If you hurt any of my friends” he shouted with a noticeable growl, lifting Zabuza off his feet and toward a nearby pool of water with a thrust of his arm that lifted him off the ground as well, “I’ll kill you”. Landing on his feet, the hitman raised his blade to block a follow up slash from an enraged child.

“A jinchuriki, a Hyuuga, and I’m willing to bet he has something special, too. Quite a valuable team, Kakashi. Too bad,” Zabuza began as his blade snapped it half from another slash, “this one is right where I want him!” Reaching through the shrapnel, a ball of water rose from the pond and wrapped itself around the youth. “How about it, Kakashi? Gonna let one of your precious students drown?” Extending his other hand, he created a pair of water clones that leaped around the sides of Naruto’s water prison. One slashed again and again at Kakashi, forcing him to constantly retreat with each near miss. Hinata deflected the other clone’s blade with her palms, though just barely. Mixing in a knee with the slashes, Zabuza’s sudden change in pattern made her hesitate, to which Sasuke swung wide, slashing the knee with his kunai. Before it could make its mark, he was kicked squarely in the chest, resetting the cycle. “You see that, kid?” Zabuza began. “That is what it means to be a ninja. They’re not playing some silly game to ‘prove themselves’ or ‘form friendships.’ They’re fighting for their lives to complete their mission, no matter the cost.”

“You’re wrong.”

“What was that, you brat?”  
“I said you’re wrong” Naruto shouted, exhausting a good portion of his remaining air. “A ninja who breaks the rules is scum, but a ninja who abandons their friends,” he cried, tears racing down his cheeks as his arms lurched from his sides to Zabuza’s fingers through the prison, “is worse than scum!”

“What? You shouldn’t even be able to move! What the hell’s gotten into you?!”

Gripping onto his index and pinky, Naruto bent them in opposite directions with a snap. Using the broken hand and Zabuza’s taught muscles as leverage, the Uzumaki flipped back-first, striking Zabuza in the jaw.

“I nearly broke my arms doing that, but you’re not gonna get off so easily” Naruto roared, slamming the rogue-nin’s head into the rocks below the water’s surface with his foot. The two water clones splashed to the ground.

“Why you” a drowning Zabuza howled, catching Naruto in the side of the gut with his broken blade. “You wanna know why my Kubikiribōchō has been wielded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist for generations?” Before his very eyes, the blade began to reconstitute from his blood. Grappling Naruto by his collar, Kakashi threw him onto the land and took his place. “Me versus you, Kakashi. Let’s end this!”

As the two shinobi weaved handsign after handsign, clashing identical water style jutsu with Kakashi continually holding the upper hand, Hinata rushed to the now red and orange genin, with Sasuke cautiously, or possibly reluctantly, in tow. As Hinata slid to her knees by Naruto's side, he let out a loud cough alongside a labored breath as his eyes shot open, blue as the midday sky. Leering down at him, Sasuke let out a low whine.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know, Zabu-whatever said something about a jinchuriki, but I guess I just," looking down at Hinata, who was currently wrapping the gaping wound in his side, the delirious Naruto took one of her hands, "when he said those things, I just really didn't want Hinata to get hurt."

Hinata's face began to glow bright red with the ferocity of a fireball as she let Naruto's hand rest by her knee on the ground as Sasuke scoffed dismissively.

"I kinda need both of my hands for this, Naruto."

As Naruto's supernatural healing began to pull him back to reality, the youth of Team 7 looked over to their teacher, who was currently pinning the assassin to a tree.

“How? Can you really see the future” Zabuza croaked.

“Yes. This will be your last battle” Kakashi responded, reeling back one final kunai.

Suddenly, two thin needles struck the assailant in the neck, dropping him to the ground. A mysterious, robed figure jumped from their perch.

“You were right, it was his last battle” the being uttered.

“Sasuke, Hinata, how are Naruto’s injuries coming along.”

“It’s c-coming along, Ka-Kakashi-sensei” Hinata replied, squeezing Naruto’s hand tightly.

“I’m fine, guys. He only caught me a little” Naruto replied, the side of his distinctive orange jacket having been almost completely reduced to rags with blood soaking the edges. “It looks a lot worse than it is.” Turning his attention away from his leader, he placed Hinata’s hand on his neck, causing her to swallow the lump in her throat and nod. “Thanks, Hinata, it really means a lot.” Sasuke side-eyed the masked intruder as they left their post.

“Thank you,” the stranger murmured as Kakashi took to the ground and checked his opponent’s heartbeat to no avail, “I’ve been waiting for this chance to finally take him down.”

“That mask; you’re a hunter-nin from the Hidden Mist.”

“Impressive, I’d expect nothing less from a jōnin.” Team Seven glared at the shinobi.

“How long have you been chasing Zabuza?”

“Since he left the village.”

“You must’ve been pretty young when you joined corpse disposal. The scar on this headband’s pretty worn, but you’re no older than my students.”

“I was chosen very early in my life for my exceptional skills.”

“Oh really? What’d you place?”

“Excuse me?”

“In the academy, how far were you from the top of your class?”

“I _was_ the top of my class.”

Kakashi pondered this answer for a while, scratching his lower back, before shrugging and bending down.

“He’s not getting much use out of it, can we take this sword” Kakashi questioned, picking up the almost completely restored Executioner’s Blade on Zabuza’s back.

“You may not, it is an important artifact of the Hidden Mist Village’s culture and history.”

Kakashi pondered their response again before setting it back down, standing up, and putting his hands up casually.

“Alright, fair enough, I’ll back off. Good luck on your future missions. I hope our nations don’t clash any time in the near future; I’d hate to have to fight someone like you.”

“Likewise, Copy Ninja Kakashi.”

In a gust of wind, he appeared in front of Zabuza, and in another they both disappeared. After a moment, Hinata nodded to Kakashi, who lowered his headband and nodded back.

“Kakashi-” Sasuke began to complain before being cut off by the subject of his complaint raised two fingers.

“Not here. We still need to get our bridge builder to his bridge” Kakashi responded.

“R-right” Hinata stumbled with a nod. Regrouping, Kakashi took a single step before collapsing. Hinata rushed to grab his arm, followed by Naruto assisting her from behind and Sasuke grabbing the opposite shoulder.

“Ka-Kakashi-sensei’s tenketsu are getting weak, I th-think he used too much chak-kra.”

Tazuna, of all people, butted in. “That’s like stamina or somethin’ for you guys, right? Come on, I’ve got a spare room or two at my place, he can rest there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the use of English versus Japanese names, the original names (i.e. Konohagakure, Kubikiribōchō, Kyuubi) will be used as older, more formal names, where as the translation (i.e. Hidden Leaf Village, Executioner's Blade, Nine-Tails) will be used as newer, more casual names.
> 
> On the list of things I'm changing, expect a lot more callbacks to things brought up later in the series, such as Kakashi reflecting on killing Rin in this chapter, to be brought up more often. I understand that the original was written on a plan-as-you-go basis, which works fine for a shonen manga, but creating a more comprehensive world is a big part of what fanfiction is all about.


	4. Budding Flowers in a Sea of Turmoil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Seven recovers after their dangerous fight with Zabuza.

As a sliver of moon crept behind a nearby tree, Sakura had to thank the academy for including the clone jutsu in the core curriculum. Most genin her age had to be indoors by 10:00, and for as carefree as her father was, she had a curfew of 9:00. She dodged behind a nearby bench to avoid the gaze of a family leaving a lone fabric shop on this side of town.

“Maybe it was training,” she thought to herself, “a ninja who can evade the police has to be at least as good as one who can follow the rules.”

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she glanced down a particular street in the village. Even shrouded in the nocturnal glow, it seemed to cast a shadow upon itself, secluding it from the rest of the village. Hitting the sides of her head with the meat of her balled fists to build courage, the kunoichi ran down the path, allowing her arms to trail behind her. The enigmatic crests that adorned the ancient walls gazed upon her like the eyes of a vengeful spirit. Her parents never told her why an entire district of people vanished. At the time, her hopeful, childish mind wanted to believe that they had all gone somewhere; off to form their own village, maybe. The mass grave just beyond the memorial told her older self otherwise.

As her hand hovered around the handle of the wooden door to the largest building in the district, she hesitated, if only for a moment, before sneaking into the house. It was empty, as she suspected; Sasuke couldn’t buy groceries without the word spreading through the ranks of her class, much less leave the village on a mission without telling anybody.

“A C-rank mission,” her inner monologue continued, “and we’re just feeding those damn dogs.” Her breath caught in her throat. “Those are my teammate’s,” she resumed, entering a side room that contained a well-kept bed, “should I really be talking like that?” Opening the top drawer of a dresser. She was greeted with a treasury of weapons and other ninja tools. Picking up a small kunai, the type beginners in the academy trained with, with a warn handle from the top of the pile, she gave a smile. “I’m with Sasuke, now,” she chuckled, falling backward onto the bed and bringing the knife close to her face, “I don’t have to be anyone else.” Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, a large smile crawling across her face.

Kakashi awoke to the sound of waves beneath him. A young woman wearing a casual pink shirt and dark skirt walked over to him, creaking the floorboards with the strength of her feet.

“Waking up, huh? Are you alright?”

“I’ve been better. It’ll probably be around a week until I can move normally” he groaned, mustering enough effort to sit himself upright in the small tatami he found himself on.

“See? It’s better if you don’t move, so just lie down” the stern-faced woman commanded.

“Right” he replied, reclaiming his resting spot. Sasuke rounded the corner, followed by the rest of his traveling party. Standing above the jōnin, hands in his pockets, the young Uchiha glared down at him.

“What’s your angle Kakashi,” he complained, “corpse disposal teams don’t take prisoners. You-” Kakashi raised his hand.

“You saw how exhausted I was after fighting Zabuza. If the Demon of the Hidden Mist trusted their strength enough to have them be his extraction,” he straightened a finger at the ninja team, “you three wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“So we just let them get away” Naruto questioned obnoxiously, to which Kakashi flattened his hand once again.

“I never said that. Before they left, I put a tag on him my sensei taught me. Of course, he never taught me the whole jutsu, but it should allow me to track him, or at least his sword.”

“Wait, you guys let a bunch of assassins get away? Damn it, why did I even hire you bunch in the first place” Tazuna protested.  
“Please, don’t interrupt. It’ll take a while, but with a few more points I should be able to triangulate his position.”

“Triangulate? That asshole’s being payed by Gato, damnit. We kill him, the assassinations stop” Tazuna fired back, veins popping from his forehead.

“While that’s true,” a calm Kakashi continued, “we don’t have any proof, and even if we did, as a ninja I have a responsibly to complete my mission **because** it betters my village. As much as I’d love to, if word got out that a Leaf shinobi killed the head of such a powerful international business magnate, it could start another war. We just can’t do it.”

“Proof?! My son was publicly tortured and killed by that monster” Tazuna roared, tears forming in his eyes.

The door to the guest room slammed shut.

“For Kage’s sake, Tsunami, you said the boy wasn’t home” the elderly man continued to shout, rubbing his forehead. “I’ll be right back, I gotta-”

“I’ll go” Naruto piped up before pausing. “I feel like I can help.”

“It’s not that” the builder exhaled. “His father, my daughter’s husband, Kaiza was a very strong man. Inari still blames him for not being able to protect the village after all his promises. If you think you can talk to him, go ahead. Just don’t be too hopeful.”

Creaking open the door to one of the small rooms upstairs, Naruto found a small boy no older than he was when he first went to the academy sitting atop a dresser looking out over the sea. His breaths were raged, with each inhale followed by sputtering and hesitation.

“They’re just-*hick*-trying to take him away-*hick*-just like you.”

“You Inari” Naruto asked. The child spun around, throwing a small book squarely into Naruto’s face forcing him to crouch down in pain.

“You’ll never-*hick*-beat Gato!”

“Look, I understand you’re upset, but just hear me out” Naruto moaned, straightening his knees.

“I don’t want to listen; I want to have a grandfather. I want my dad back!”

“Me too.” Naruto looked at the floorboards as the child turned around to let his legs dangle against the dresser’s drawers, almost instantly silenced. “I’m the only member of my family I’ve ever known. Up until a few days ago, most people wouldn’t even look at me because of something I didn’t even know about.”

“Why are you telling me this” the listening child sniffled.

“Well, I dunno. I guess I just kinda… get what you’re going through, ya know? Listen, Inari, I’ll stop whatever’s going on, no matter what. Not because I want to become Hokage, or because I’m a ninja, or even to have people respect me, but because I get it. I’ll stop Gato no matter what, and I never go back on my word, believe it” Extending his fist, Naruto flashed a great smile at the child. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Inari reciprocated the gesture, allowing their fists to clash before trying his best to raise a gentle, cathartic smile.

Making his way back downstairs, Naruto was greeted by Kakashi, who was familiarizing himself with a pair of crutches, and Tazuna, who was seated in a nearby chair.

“Oh Naruto, I was right about to get you. How was your talk” Kakashi inquired.

“Things’re alright. Where’s Sasuke and Hinata” Naruto replied.

“We went over a lesson and then I sent them out on a mission-”

“Without me?!”

“Naruto, I have the utmost faith in them, trust me. I told them that if they sense anything even remotely dangerous, that they should return here as quickly as possible. They should be back any second, and you need to be caught up.” Wobbling to the doorway, he struck the edge of the doorframe with the foot of one crutch. “I want you to walk up this wall.” Naruto’s back slammed into the wooden platform outside. “Come on Naruto, this is a perfectly normal skill that a shinobi should have.”

“I mean, yeah Kakashi-sensei, but it sure seems a lot harder than just ‘do it’, ya know?”

“Exactly, which is why you most of all have to listen to what I’m about to say. In order to do this, you must focus a specific amount of a better blend of physical and spiritual energy into a single location in your body, in this case the soles of your feet. If you can’t do this,” he glared challengingly at Naruto, “you’ll never become Hokage.”

“What do you see in him” Sasuke nagged as he and Hinata rushed through the trees.

“I’m s-sorry” Hinata questioned, having been taken aback by the sudden question.

“Naruto, he’s a nobody, a loser, but you obviously care about him.”  
“I-I don’t know w-what you mean” Hinata stumbled, blushing.

“He’s the only person you can talk to without stuttering. You held his hand for half of Kakashi’s fight with Zabuza.”

“Well th-that was jus-st for the code” Hinata blushed even harder.

“I’m not trying to call you out or blackmail you, but every other girl in our class is constantly pestering me, why him?”

“W-when I was little, I w-was b-bullied by a bunch of g-genin. Right as o-one of them was about to h-hit me, he j-jumps out of a bush, b-blocking me w-with his body, sh-shouting something about b-becoming Hokage. They b-beat him up a lot, but ignored m-me. Before I could th-thank him, my c-caretaker told me to n-never talk to him, and we l-l-left. I d-don't even think he r-remembers, and I haven't t-told him ab-bout it yet."

“So it’s because he did something for you?”

“Th-that’s not it. H-he was hurting s-so much, b-but was willing t-to hurt even m-more so I didn’t have t-to. H-he,” Hinata sighed, wiping away the forming tears in her eyes with the back of her sleeve, “he wants to become Hokage, no matter what.”

“So what? I’m just as dedicated to my goal.”

“Th-that’s-s not it either. He s-says its so people will rec-cognize him, b-but he knows the Hok-kage is supposed t-to help everyone. You’re just in it f-for revenge.”

Sasuke didn’t respond. His lungs tensed a handful of times, reaching to dictate some sort of response, but all he could muster was scowling solemnly toward their destination.

“This is the place, Hinata. Do you have it?”

Nodding, Hinata produced a standard brown seal tag from her bag bearing a strangely simple combination of characters before attaching it to the trunk of the tree they were standing on. “S-Sword of Shinobi’s L-Love. I w-onder what…?”

“Who cares, let’s just get back to the village before anybody sees us.”

“Come on Naruto, you heard what I said. If you can’t do this, you’ll never become Hokage” Kakashi scolded.

“Y’know Kakashi, I’m pretty sure teachers are supposed to, you know, teach? Just shouting the same thing over and over isn’t helping” an upside-down Naruto responded, holding his head.

“I’m not your teacher, and I’m not your parent, I ex-” Sasuke and Hinata leaped down from the trees almost silently, making Naruto tip over.

“We’re back, Kakashi. Mission complete” Sasuke muttered.

“How is it going, Ka-Kakashi-sensei, Naruto” Hinata asked with a tense smile.

“’Things are going fine” Kakashi lackadaisically spoke.

“Easy for you to say when you’re not hitting your head over and over” Naruto shouted. Hinata gasped, covering her mouth. Sasuke groaned, walking inside the small residence. “Psst, hey Hinata, I didn’t want Sasuke to hear, but you got that Byaky-whatchamacallit, right? I just don’t get what I’m doing wrong, could you check me out, help me figure it out?”

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-check you out,” Hinata clattered, her face turning bright read, “I mean-I don’t-I wouldn’t-”

“Yeah, y’know? Like, figure out what kinda chakra I’m using and if I’m putting it in the right spots.” Hinata’s shock deflated.

“Oh, um, of course.”

“Alright! I’m gonna master this, believe it!”

Walking back a few steps, Naruto ran toward the wall. His chakra roared to his feet as his momentum carried him a few steps up the wall. One foot stuck to the wall, allowing him to make it up one more step before the other blasted him off the wall. Before she could even think, Hinata dashed toward him, cushioning his fall as he fell into her arms. The two stayed that way for a moment before blood rushed to her face once more, forcing her to stammer backward a few steps. Grabbing her chin in an attempt to disguise letting her heart slow with deep thought, she sighed deeply.

“It looks like you’re just sending the chakra _to_ your feet. Try circulating it around your feet instead.” Naruto stared forward blankly, clearly not grasping the concept. “Imagine… imagine your feet as narutomaki.” Naruto’s dead stare continued for a moment before his face lit up.

“Oh, you mean like that? That should be easy” Naruto charged at the wall.

“No, Naruto, wait” Hinata pleaded as he charged toward the wall, making it a handful more steps up before plummeting back to the hard ground. Hinata rushed over to him.

“Sorry, I was about to say you need to regulate your chakra more, too.”

“I know, I just don’t know how to do that!”

“Right now, your chakra is mostly spiritual energy. You need to either crank back on that, or produce more physical energy” Kakashi demanded.

“I-but-you can’t just say that, Kakashi-sensei. I don’t know how to do either of those” Naruto whined.

“When you start converting chakra, try to breath a little deeper, maybe flex your muscles a little harder” Hinata taught, the implication bringing a slight tinge of color to her pale cheeks.

“Oh, like _physical_ energy” Naruto responded, elated at this seemingly mastermind revelation. Reeling back, he dashed toward the wall. One step landed, magnetizing him to the wall, then another, and another. Each step carried him higher and higher up the wall. Before he had even realized it, he was at the precipice of the small house’s wooden roof. Watching the sun set on the calm ocean before him, his eyes widened. It was like a sea of purple fire flanked on either side by a bright orange dome and a cyan barrier of sea foam. Just behind the closed entryway, Sasuke scoffed.

“Great,” he thought to himself, “the idiot can steal the others’ skill. Some _great ninja_ he is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura has always been the most obsessive over Sasuke, with pretty much every other kunoichi except her much more readily condemning him after he went rogue. I believe that the only thing keeping her from pulling the kind of thing she did in this chapter in the original series is because 1.) she was on a team with Sasuke and some of the attraction went away allowing her to not be as obsessive, and 2.) was never in the village while he wasn’t a rogue-nin. Also, just to clarify, the implication was that Sakura was smelling the kunai Sasuke used, not that she committed self-harm with the kunai she assumed he did or masturbated with it. I kinda hate that I feel the need to clarify that. She’s obsessive and possessive, but still a child.


	5. Progress is Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Seven enacts their plan to put a stop to Zabuza's attacks. If you're this far in, chances are chapter summaries don't really matter all that much.

“Alright team, today we’re going to be assisting the Konoha Mail Delivery Service” Kurenai cheerfully spoke, as usual.

“C’mon Kurenai-sensei,” Kiba complained, “when are we gonna get a real mission?”

“These are real missions, Kiba. You should be thankful, the mail service decided to give this mission specifically to us because we’re the most fit for the job.”

“What’dya mean?”

“Well, you and Akamaru can do twice the work of a normal genin. Shino should be able to deliver lighter mail even faster than that.”

“Oh yeah, teach? What about me” Sakura criticized.

“Right, um… you’ve got the kindest face out of any of this year’s chūnin, so you’re perfect for delivering packages.”

“Right…” she groaned.

Kakashi pulled a strange, three-pronged kunai from his bag. Its wooden handle bore the same inscription as the tag.

“This is a kunai my sensei gifted me after I became a chūnin. Using this, I can pick up on the unique, low frequency chakra signals the other two I gave you are sending out, and by finding where the three intersect, I should be able to track Zabuza’s sword” the jōnin explained.

“That’s some pretty serious tracking” Naruto marveled.

“It’s actually pretty standard for radio signals” Sasuke grouched.

“Cut it, you two. Tazuna, can you hand me a map of the area,” Kakashi requested, “something you won’t mind ruining.” Being provided a ragged, faded map, he grabbed the kunai in both hands, closing his uncovered eye. He sat there for a moment, only allowing himself to breath, before opening his eye and drawing a large circle around the house’s location on the map, adding a tick on edge of the circle. “Hinata, come with me, I need you to watch my back. Naruto, Sasuke, make sure this kunai does not leave this room, it’s as important to me as my Sharingan” the jonin glared, his tone suddenly dropping to a deathly serious tone. 

“Alright, bye guys” Naruto cheered.

“See you” Sasuke grumbled.

The two boys sat there for some time, Sasuke brooding in the corner, and Naruto holding the kunai in both hands, turning it over and examining every inch of it, humming and hawing at every turn. A minute became ten, which in turn became twenty. Sasuke stood up, nostrils flaring as he plucked the kunai from his hands.

“It’s not a toy” Sasuke griped.

“Jeez, dude, I’m just curious” Naruto whined.

“You’re an idiot” Sasuke responded, whipping around so he was nose-to-nose with the target of his current hatred.

“What’s your deal.” Naruto pushed Sasuke away from him.

“My ‘deal’ is that you’re holding me back and I can’t stand you” Sasuke brandished the kunai.

“You wanna go? Let’s go, right here, right now!” Naruto sized Sasuke up like an ape.

“Both of you, calm down” Kakashi scolded, appearing between the boys and shoving them to opposite sides of the room, ripping the kunai from Sasuke’s hands. “If you can’t learn to work as a team, you’ll die… I should know. Sasuke, you wanna know where I got my Sharingan? I’ve seen you looking. I was a soldier in the Third Shinobi World War at your age. His name was Obito Uchiha, and he was crushed to death because **I** looked down on him for being naïve,” the jōnin shouted, “and you, Naruto, do want to know what’s so important about that kunai? The Fourth Hokage thought he was the only one who could bear the responsibility of fighting the Nine-Tails, and now he and Kushina are dead. You can keep walking down that path, but it’s littered with bodies you two killed.” Kakashi let the air clear.

“Wow, Kakashi, I’m-”

“Don’t apologize to me, we have job to do. You want to resolve this, put that energy into the job ahead of us.” Unfurling the map, he drew a series of lines leading to a single point. “As far as we can tell, Zabuza isn’t in any condition to come after us, so we’re going to take the initiative. I’m not in much of a shape to fight either, so this’ll mostly be on you guys, but if we’re lucky, there won’t be any fight.”

“How would that even be possible, Kakashi” Sasuke protested.

“Just trust me, and let me do the talking."

“Some jōnin you were. Unbeatable ninja my ass,” a stout, grimy man in a black suit and shades leered, flanked on either side by two imposing men wielding sheathed swords, “limping back like some pathetic has-been.” He chuckled. “Demon of the Hidden Mist, more like coward of the Hidden M-” blood shot from his mouth as his breathing stopped. As he fell forward, a kunai revealed itself firmly sheathed to the hilt in the back of the businessman’s neck.

“Now, the guards” the voice of Kakashi shouted as a gray boot slammed the door open. Hinata rapidly jabbed the combatant on the corpse’s right, a man with long gray hair, a black beanie, and a gray hoodie, progressively cutting off the chakra flow to his arms, then his legs, and finally numerous points in his torso. Naruto thrust his fist into the gut of the other enemy, a shirtless, bald man with a goatee who was covered in spiraling tattoos, granting Sasuke enough time to draw his opponent’s katana, slashing his throat in two movements.

“You know, those weren’t mine” a bedridden Zabuza moaned, completely unmoving under his white sheets. The hunter-nin, now bearing a soft-chinned, androgynous face rather than a mask, drew two handfuls of senbon. “Calm down, Haku, if they were here for us, we’d already be fighting. I thought I taught you better.”

“Right, Zabuza” Haku responded, softening their stance.

“I guess it doesn’t take the great Kakashi long to hunt down even a trained assassin.”  
“I had some help. I actually came here to congratulate you.”

“Congratulate, you say? I’ll bite.”  
“More so you, Haku… Momochi?”

“Yuki” they responded.

“Haku Yuki, I’d like to congratulate you on becoming the new head of the Gato Company.”

“And why would that be” Zabuza questioned.

“I read your file, Zabuza; you went rogue after a failed attempt on the Mizukage’s life. With all the money Gato Corp brings in, I’m sure you can scrape together just enough for another attempt.” The two jōnin simultaneously glared and acted incredibly casual toward one another. After what felt like an eternity, Zabuza ripped a hoarse, throaty laugh.

“I love a man who can do his research. You’d love it in the Land of Water with how much I’m biting, but what’s the catch?”

“Well, I’d hope you guys would try to keep the company on the up and up. If word got out that the great Zabuza Momochi assassinated Gato and was using the corporation to embezzle funds to upset the balance between the nations with a coup, the political backlash would be massive, and the military backlash even more so.”

“I could just tie up that lose end right now” Zabuza’s masked face grinned.  
“And I have just enough chakra to erase your skull from existence with a blink” Kakashi threatened. Something in the walls crackled as the silent air between them grew cold.

“You really do talk a good talk, copycat” the scoundrel snickered, “I’d love to work with you, Kage to Kage.”

“Likewise, Momochi” the shinobi answered, bowing his head slightly.

“We’re fine, Haku. You have my word, Kakashi, that bridge will be completed” Zabuza decided, rolling over to turn his back from Team Seven.  
A drop of water dripped onto Naruto’s shoulder. Looking up, he caught a glimpse of a ceiling covered in foot-long spikes of ice just before they receded into the stone above him. The sudden release of tension in the room was enough, but the sudden realization that he could have died with less than a thought slammed him to the floor. Likewise, Hinata leaned against the wall, sliding her back down it to hide behind her knees. Sasuke left the room dignantly. Just behind the door, the sounds of copious vomiting could be heard.

“I though you said we weren’t going to kill Gato” Naruto shouted irately as he and his comrades leapt through the trees.

“I said we don’t kill businessmen, and we didn’t. We killed a criminal, and Zabuza killed a businessman” Kakashi calmly recited.

“You lied to us” Sasuke groused, his unwavering voice as smooth as ever.

“I lied to Tazuna. We did what was best for our village, our client, and ourselves. I wish there was a better way, but that’s just how things are in the ninja world. I stand by what I said, but we’re still ninja. I hope you never have to experience the day we have to leave the shadows.”

Team Seven emerged from the forest, reentering the shantytown. Stopping by Tazuna’s household, Kakashi rapped his knuckles on the door.

“Is it done” the builder grumbled through the closed door.

“Gato shouldn’t be bothering you anymore. Try not to pull any more stunts like this, alright?”

“Thanks Kakashi, I mean it.”

“I’m just doing my job.”

As Kakashi exited the small building, he thunked the back of his head against the wall as his students trailed toward the harbor.

"Damn, did I say too much?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of the first arc! I know this chapter was about half the length of the previous chapters, but that's mostly due to a lack of a major fight. If Zabuza's fate wasn't enough of an indicator, expect a lot more major changes in the timeline.


End file.
